The Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary, Sitaram Yechury, has expressed concern over the growing communalism and politics of intolerance in the country, ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government has taken over the reins.
Social oppression and exploitation have become the order of the day and all sectors have plunged into crisis in the current regime, headed by the BJP. There was need for forging an alternative based on policies to check the current trends, he said. Mr. Yechury was here on Thursday in connection with the launch of Bahujana Left Front, a coalition of various organisations.
Elaborating on the economic disparities, he said the latest surveys reported that 73 % of the country’s wealth was concentrated in the hands of one % population. This was against 49 % of the wealth held by one % of the population during the previous UPA regime.
The BJP could not fulfil its promise of creating two crore jobs every year after coming to power. There was in fact a significant rise in farmers’ suicides, while unemployment went up by more than 10 %, ever since the BJP government came to power. Rampant privatisation had further reduced the employment opportunities for marginalised sections, while the government was yet to respond to the demand for implementation of the rule of reservation in private sector. The government had, in fact, waived NPAs of large corporates to the tune of ₹11 lakh crore rather than addressing the issues faced by the people. “The incidents of cow vigilantism are on the rise so is the case of attacks in the universities. The BJP govt. owes an answer concerning these issues,” he said.
Referring to Telangana, he lamented that the TRS Government, which came to power in the new State, was following the policies of the previous governments. The government had failed to implement the promises it made to the people before the elections.
Social activist Prakash Ambedkar criticised the Prime Minister for his failure to check corruption which was growing alarmingly. While corruption by individuals was the hall mark of the previous UPA regime, it had turned more organised and systemic under the current dispensation.
